Everything About Puppy Toilet Training

We all know the joy of bringing home a puppy. But teaching your puppy basic house rules and commands is where things may seem tough and complicated. Puppy toilet training is one of them. It requires equal shares of patience and positive reinforcement. This is because the end goal of such training is to build a bond of love and mutual respect.

Why Is Toilet Training Important?

People often wonder how to train a puppy to pee outside. Why is it so important? Here are the reasons:

• You and your puppy can have a good and trusted playtime inside the house without you having to worry about the pup peeing inside.
• You and your puppy can be partners wherever you go! It is easy to take your puppy to your relatives or friends house if the pup is toilet trained.
• The puppy won't dirty or soil the car on a trip to the vet or anywhere else.
• The puppy will learn to practice bladder control and not pee or poop anywhere it feels like inside the house. An understanding of an appropriate place to pee/ poop will be achieved.
• You won't have to worry about cleaning up after your puppy all the time.

The Initial Steps

The usual time taken for puppy toilet training is anywhere between 6 to 8 months. Housetraining a puppy includes several factors such as:

• The breed and size of the puppy. Puppies belonging to small breeds have smaller bladders and, therefore, less bladder control.
• The conditions your puppy lived in before it came to you. Habits that have been developed earlier take some time in breaking to build new ones.
• You must begin initially with taking your puppy outside the moment you feel it needs to relieve itself. Chart out a plan and stick to it. Consistency does the trick.

When to Begin with Puppy Toilet Training?

Before we ponder how to potty train a puppy, it is important to understand when to start with it. Experts have observed that you can start house training your puppy when they are between 12 weeks to 16 weeks. By the time puppies are 12 to 16 weeks old, they have some control over their bowel movements and bladder.

Encouraging your puppy to relieve outside and not dirty the house can be rewarding when the right behaviour is performed.

How to Teach ‘The Act’

One of the basics of potty training a puppy is secluding a place where the puppy should be taken after short intervals of time. People often invest in pee pads or puppy pads which are equally helpful too. There are a few steps which you must follow to teach ‘the act’:

• Maintain a feeding schedule of your puppy and give meals only according to that schedule. The food should be kept away from the puppy when it is not mealtime. The puppy should not have the freedom to munch on food according to mood and activity.
• When the puppy wakes up, you must take it outside to relieve itself. This way, the puppy will understand the importance of going out to pee or poop first thing in the morning. After this, you must take the puppy out or place the pup on the pee pad/ puppy pee pad every 30 minutes. Taking the puppy out or on the secluded corner selected by you after mealtime is a must. It is also important to take the puppy out to pee/ poop just before it is time for bed.
• Scents play an active role in where the puppy wants to pee. You must take the puppy to the same spot every time to relieve itself, whether it's inside the house or outside.
• When you see your puppy eliminated in the right place or outside, you must praise the puppy and even reward the puppy with a treat.
• Practice the above steps regularly till your puppy is house trained.

Signs to Look Out For

A pup has its own ways to signal to you that it is time to pee/ poop. You must have a keen eye and watch out for these signs:

• Excessive sniffing
• Unusual barking. At times the puppy may bark at you, asking you to take it outside.
• Going around in circles
• Whining
• If you take your puppy outside to relieve itself, you might see the puppy scratching or pushing at the door to go out.

If you can observe and understand these signals, you can avoid accidents inside the house and encourage your puppy to stick to this good and intelligent behaviour!

What Not To Do

Potty training a puppy is never a piece of cake. It is certain that you might have to encounter small accidents during the process. These accidents may seem like setbacks but rest assured everybody faces them and is sure to achieve success eventually. It is important to remember that puppies are like babies and need constant love and guidance. However, when your puppy accidentally pees or poops inside the house, there are a few things you shouldn't do. They are:

• Never punish your puppy for any accidents. Rather keep on training with the same dedication.
• If you come across evidence of peeing inside the house or the out of bounds areas, you must restrain yourself from getting angry or screaming at the puppy.
• Never clean up accidents insd=ide the house with an ammonia-based cleaner as the smell it has attracts the puppy back to the same place.

Puppy toilet training is an important part of raising a dog. The sooner you begin with it, the better it is for you and your dog. We hope through this blog we have answered all your queries regarding the same. If you want to get your puppy trained the professional way, then get in touch with our expert trainers at Zigly, who are always just a woof away!

You can also buy products to help you with toilet training like dog diapers and pee pads from our online pet store Zigly.